A Word From Our Sponsor
Encyclopedia
A Word from Our Sponsor is a 1995 musical by Alan Ayckbourn
and John Pattison. It was the final Ayckbourn play to be premièred at the Stephen Joseph Theatre
's old Westwood site. It is about a vicar, who is tempted by the devil (Valda/Valder) offering a sponsorship deal for dubious return favours.
This play was one of Ayckbourn's less successful works, but the production was marred most of all by the death of a member of the cast, Sophie Winter, who collapsed the afternoon before the final Scarborough performance and died the day. As a respected member of the company, a memorial was made to her in the theatre, and a trust in her name was set up to sponsor new plays at the Stephen Joseph Theatre between 1996 and 2008.
Alan Ayckbourn
Sir Alan Ayckbourn CBE is a prolific English playwright. He has written and produced seventy-three full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their...
and John Pattison. It was the final Ayckbourn play to be premièred at the Stephen Joseph Theatre
Stephen Joseph Theatre
The Stephen Joseph Theatre is a theatre in the round in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England that was founded by Stephen Joseph and was the first theatre in the round in Britain....
's old Westwood site. It is about a vicar, who is tempted by the devil (Valda/Valder) offering a sponsorship deal for dubious return favours.
This play was one of Ayckbourn's less successful works, but the production was marred most of all by the death of a member of the cast, Sophie Winter, who collapsed the afternoon before the final Scarborough performance and died the day. As a respected member of the company, a memorial was made to her in the theatre, and a trust in her name was set up to sponsor new plays at the Stephen Joseph Theatre between 1996 and 2008.